Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-12-25
"ONE CHRISTMAS EVE"
BY ELIZA ARMSTRONG.


quite fast enough, and coDEldered a trip
'~'scross the mountains to Baltimore quite
going out to see the ~world-before the
steamboat was invented, before canal boats
were abandoned to the shades of old
fogyism; when c~oalscuttle shapes were
considered Loves Of bonnets," ard
young bloods spent much thought and
money or their waistooats and wore their
abundant locks we'll oiled and curled.
When jackson was President and Queen
Victoria was still a blooming young thing,
when young ladies secretly wore back
boards and consumed slate pencils and
chalk in the hopes of possessing "a genteei
figure and n fine complexion, such as
| Wheeling's fair daughters were noted for.
Those were indeed good old days, the
memory of which still serves to warm the
cookies of a few old gentlemanly hearts,
and the tales of which delight their de-
scendsnts unto the third and fourth gener-
atoms.
NV little heroine has been de,d some
wears and il buried in r cemetery you may
perhaps know. with her virtues engrayen
on a tall white slab as those Of Polly,
| wife Of" but that is telling, while he
rests beside Dor. Aud l hope Sally Smith
ers ia still living, the sour o'6 rls;d sh' de-
served 20 be, and that Robert Wallace
wooed and won The lov.li,st gil in Balti-
more for his bride.
II all conn. nc"d in this way Mary
( Lizzie TomlinsOn and AhTam VausiltaFt
were 10 b. married On the nineteenth oil
| December, ard as people did not often so
on bridal tours in those days, 1t was ar
ranged that the nuptial festivities were
to be kept up all through the Holidays,
and all Wheeling and the surrounding
country were in y great state OF commo'
ton over il. The afternoon before the
wedding q merry patty OF young folk were
assembled III tie parlors OF the old lom'
linson manslOn-yOu need not COX lot IT,
| dear reader, for it was pulled dow long
ago. and several business houses now oc-
cupy the site. Everybody was busy decor
! at!ng every available space with eveTgreens,
of which great wagon loads had been
brought IN trOrn the forest, and everybody
was laughing, jesting aud playirlly teas
igC rTe bride.
'Oh! Mary Lizzie, l wonder that Won
are not afraid to have so much green about
YOU. " spoke Il merry damssi, Its we'll
known to be an unlucky color"
Nonsense, Sally, I'm not afraid OF that,
| though do hope Abrams friend will ar
rive in season for the wedding | confess
/ should like the bridal party to number
thirteen"
"Where is Abram?" called u Polly
Tomlinson, the prettiest girl in the room,
and cousin to the bride.
''He's turned bashful, ike Joe, and run
away" put in William Henry Jones, one
of Polly's disappointed suitOrs. A sup
pressed litter ran through the room at
this sally, and Polly's cheeks flashed
crimson, but she tossed her head.
as it Joe Elton you mean?' she asked
demurely, and now the laugh was unsur-
passed, for the latter Joe was a somewhat
naughty heiress whom Mr.. Jones was now
counting with hia usual lack of success.
"Abram has gone to the tavern to make
enquiries concerning the COACH said the
bride, blushing prettily. "You know he
il expecting his friend, Mr.. Wallace, from
Baltimore, who is to stand up thSally. y
Couldn't find a native bold enough
whispered Amy Martin to Polly, TO: Miss
FSmither5 was not ut all y tavOTite, though
honest, ~unsuspicious Mary Lizzie never
doubted her. Polly nodded n response.
Come girls" she cried, Cousin John has
hung the last wreath, let u 90 away and
| 1..-o MAJ syzsa in naaaa. tln hIV plnpE
in the hall tells me that she has only two
hours to be Mary Lizzie Tomlms0n, If the
wedding takes place exactly at eleven;
''and the first bridesmaid wants plenty OF
| time to primp," said Sally Smithers. "Of
course | do said Polly. "Who knows
but this Mr.. Wallace may prove 10Y fate, y
and then she gave u little scream, for Joe
Hollabird advanced suddenly from the
shadow, having come in just III time to hear
her foolish words. "Why Joe, how late you
are" said the bride" "Ic0uldn't come any
sooner, and as Pm too late to help, III say
goodbye till evening" answered Joe, and
stumbled of, treadIrg On Amy Martins
dress aud knocking over & tcoistOol as ne
went. Polly laughed, bat her fingers
trembled as she fastened her tippet and
tied her bonnet strings. For Joe HOllabird
was: Polly's undeclared lover, and this
pretty girl had said mo" 10 all her other
suitors aud secretly given her heart to
Joe, who was too bashiul to ask for 1T.
You need not laugh, | assure you there
were bashful young men in those days
as | am reliably informed. As Polly and
Sally Snithers turned the corner, the coach
came laundering up to the tavern and they
saw Abram greet his friend rs he got down
from his place by the driver.
What a fine looking fellow he ~, Sally,
the girls will envy you tonight" said
Polly.
"Do vou think SOP" returned Sally with
a malicious smile. "I'il tell Joe you said
sc. You know I'm staying with Cousin
Patience until after the wedding. | didn't
want to spoil roy new book muslin by hid
ing in with it on
You can tell Joe just what you please
It's nothing to me" cried Polly, with her
head very high and her heart very low, aud
so they separated.
Polly was all in a flutter as she stood be-
fore the glass in the dressing room thai
night TO put the last rlng'et straight.
She wore a dotted muslin frock, with a
blue sash, and her little black slippers
were laced across the instep and up the
ankle, and unless the glass and the wait
ing maid told atrOcious stories she looked
very sweet indeed. Her heart gave a
great throb as she thought that Joe was to
stand up with her, perhaps she even
hoped in the inEermcSt IsCesSeR OF her
breast that Joe would find courage to utter
the words she knew were often on his lips,
on this suspicious occasion.
The wedding was a lovely one, the bride
looked like q dream, the bridegroom WAS
radient, aud the old house vas aglow with
light ard gay with music. among the
guests ] doubt not there were ZAnes and
SteeurOds, Todds and T~hompsons, Clemens
and PattersOns and many more, the bloom
ing grandmammas and grandplpas OF
our present beaux and bellies. How the
little feet trampled through the M9yes OF
Money Musk, the Virginia Rel and many
a dance long since forgotten, then there
was a great hot supper, the guests drank,
standing, to the health Of the bride, while
the servants clustered at the end of the
hall TO see the sight, their black faces shin,
;no -;,A Jol;.,ht Dollr's l,,nb r,n, I;Ea